


On the shoulder of Father Time

by Noscere



Series: Cladograms and Phylogenies [1]
Category: RWBY
Genre: Difficult Decisions, Dysfunctional Family, F/F, Implied abusive parents, White Rose - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-08
Updated: 2016-02-08
Packaged: 2018-05-19 04:58:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,392
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5954494
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Noscere/pseuds/Noscere
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What does Weiss owe to her father?</p>
            </blockquote>





	On the shoulder of Father Time

**Author's Note:**

> Ruby and Weiss have settled down: Ruby, a huntress in her prime; Weiss, a part-time huntress and CEO of the Schnee Dust company. The White Fang is nothing but a bad memory and Cinder has long since died. There is nothing that can hurt the two partners now.
> 
> (Also, Asteria - the next installment of Titans - is currently undergoing a rewrite after Chapter 11 was released. Damn it, Jaune.)

Ruby woke up to the faint sound of pots banging and clanking in the sink, interspersed with running water as the faucet turned on and off. It was probably their maid, Echo, taking care of breakfast before she took her weekend off.

The other side of the bed was cold. Weiss had probably gone to work – it was a weekend, true, but the CEO of the Schnee Dust Company was always needed.

Ruby’s nose was freezing. She wiggled back into her cocoon of warm blankets and burrowed her nose into Weiss’s pillow. It still smelt of red wine and cheesecake from last night.

Metal clanged against the floor.

“You – you little!”

Ruby shot up, throwing off her covers. That was Weiss, all right.

The reaper rolled her shoulders, wincing as her joints popped. The Griffin had left its mark on her back – a long, ropy scar that bisected her shoulder blades. Thanks to the Schnee Dust Company’s advances in Dust medicine, she could use her left arm again. It was still a struggle to pull on a bathrobe over her pajamas when her fingers were numb and refused to cooperate with the simplest of tasks.

She padded her way to the kitchen, where Weiss was swearing vociferously at a pile of burned pancakes and a milky mess of _something_ sitting on the stovetop. A bright red apron was draped over her wife’s front, slathered in flour and drips of egg white. Her pajamas – silk, monogrammed with her personal sigil – were rolled up to the sleeves.

At the dining table, waffles (that looked suspiciously store-bought) sat on china decorated with the Schnee crest. A bowl of whipped cream, garnished with glistening scarlet strawberries, sat nearby. To top it off, there was a plate of chocolate chip cookies, still hot enough to steam in the winter air.

“Hiya, sweetie.” Ruby plopped a kiss on her partner’s cheek. “Aww, is this for me?”

“Yes.” Weiss grumbled. She pulled up the rubber gloves sheathing her arms and plunged her hands into the frothy mess in the sink. “You’re helping clean up later.”

“Of course.” Ruby slipped her fingers beneath Weiss’s shirt. “What else would I do for my–“

“Okay, that’s quite enough,” Weiss said, though a faint blush dusted her cheeks. She tapped Ruby’s head with a soapy glove. “Go eat.”

“Got it, Weiss!”

 

Ruby sat down at the table and popped a strawberry into her mouth. She dipped a spoon into the whipped cream, dropping a generous dollop onto a golden waffle dusted with powdered sugar and drizzled with chocolate syrup. As she ate, Ruby watched her wife potter around the kitchen.

Weiss picked up a saucepan caked in indescribable black residue. She dropped it into the sink, heedless of the soapy water that splashed back out or the nasty crunch it made when it hit another pan.

The reaper frowned. Normally, Weiss was even pickier than Echo when it came to taking care of 2000 lien pans.

She cut a slice of waffle and decorated it with a slice of strawberry, then crept up behind her wife. “Open wide,” she said, posing the treat before Weiss’s lips.

Ruby felt, more than saw, Weiss frown. “Thanks, Ruby. I’m not hungry. Why don’t you sit down and enjoy your breakfast? You’ve earned a break.”

“Not right now. I can tell.” Ruby set down the morsel on the nearest clean space, which happened to be a freshly washed pan. Weiss’s eye twitched. “Something’s bothering you. Well, other than that waffle.”

“It’s silly,” Weiss muttered. “I won’t bother you with it."

“Sweetie, we’re partners.” Ruby kissed her wife’s neck, her lips lingering over the scar. “I want to know. Maybe I can help?”

Weiss winced. Though the scar had ceased to hurt, it was forever a memory of the day Adam Taurus had attempted to execute her. She didn’t resist when Ruby clasped her arms around the CEO’s waist and pulled her close.

“You really can’t.”

A faint pang ran through Ruby’s heart. She hadn’t seen her partner so put out since the last argument with the CEO’s father, one that had nearly ended in half of Downtown Vale blowing up.

“Please, sweetie?”

Weiss sighed, and turned to face her wife. Ruby crowed internally – after two decades, the pair were finally breaking down the last of Weiss’s barriers.

“I received an email this morning. The contents… upset me greatly. I chose to take a day off work.”

 

Ruby’s hands settled on her partner’s hips. “Is anyone injured? Oh, no. Don’t tell me Winter…”

“Winter’s fine. She’s enjoying teaching at Beacon. Still complaining about your dusty old uncle, however.”

Ruby sniffed. “He’s not old.” Her thoughts turned to Yang and Blake once more, but the duo would have told her directly if something had gone wrong. “Is my dad giving you a hard time?”

“Is he the sort of Huntsman to do that?”

“No…” Ruby’s eyes widened. “Don’t tell me… the White Fang…”

“No! Honestly, Ruby, it’s nothing world-ending. It’s merely very discomforting.”

Ruby pressed a kiss to her partner’s neck. Underneath the flour and sweetness of chocolate, she could taste something that was uniquely Weiss. “Okay. If you want to talk later, I’ll be there for you."

“It’ll take a while. It’s best we do it now.” Weiss stripped off her gloves and laid them by the sink. She gripped the counter, knuckles whitening under already pale skin. “I had a… difficult childhood.” Weiss grimaced. “My father always had very high expectations for his heirs. He was so disappointed that his best and brightest – my sister, Winter – joined the military. I was nothing like my sister. Remember the summoning glyphs? It took me twelve years just to summon a sword. He couldn’t believe that I – after all the work he poured into Winter – would inherit the company.”

Ruby merely nodded.

The CEO took a deep breath. She looked down at the scars spider-webbing across her hands. “Then the White Fang radicalized. Suddenly, board members, cousins, friends – they were disappearing, or turning up on our doorstep in bits and pieces.”

Weiss shuddered. “I– I still think – we had a Faunus maid. Kikuno. She had the loveliest voice… Kikuno used to sing when she woke me up. She had raised him, I think that’s the only reason there was a Faunus in the house at all. She told me he paid for a surgery to remove her tail, help her blend in with the company staff.” Tears trickled down her face. “She– she didn’t live with us. In a small cabin, off the main manor. O-one day, I slept in. F-father was so angry… I w-went t-to the foyer, I t-thought she w-was late… and… and there… there… she…”

Her wife hugged her.

“There was a note,” Weiss said, in barely a whisper. “ _You’re next_. My father was never the same again.” She shook, like an icicle caught in a winter gust. “He was bad before, but Kikuno was there to shield me. Then she was gone.

“He went through her belongings personally. He found a note. One with the White Fang crest stamped on it. I don’t know if she was planning to join up – maybe someone had passed her the flyer while she was out getting groceries. He never told me - I just found the crumpled bits in the fireplace. Almost overnight, he… he hated anything to do with the Faunus. I think that’s when he stopped caring about the mines – you know, mines where the workers are mistreated? They’re less productive.” Weiss shook her head. “It wasn’t just about the business anymore.”

“I’m sorry.” Ruby rocked her wife back and forth on her heels. “Do you want to visit her?”

Weiss shook her head. “I’m sorry… I got distracted. I… I have many bad memories of that place.” She gritted her teeth and squeezed her eyes shut. “It’s… I want you to understand. My childhood was difficult, but it became even worse after Kikuno passed. I wanted to learn how to fight and protect the people. My father wanted me to take his place. He told me he owned me, that I owed him for my very existence. And now… he’s dying.”

 

Ruby stayed silent.

“He wrote me a letter. Begging for my forgiveness. So many platitudes. _Sweet child of mine_ , _darling, my flesh and blood…_ All to say he needs a liver. According to the Schnee records, I am a perfect match. And with recent advances in Dust technology, I could donate half of my liver, and nothing would happen to me.”

Weiss turned to face her wife. “I don’t know what to do. The first time, I refused, citing that as an active Huntress, I might need my entire liver one day. But I also do not think he deserves it. Ever since, I’ve been barraged with angry emails – my cousins, my aunts, my father – everyone thinks I’m being selfish. He has been very abrasive. I’m no longer _sweet child of mine_ , I’m a _selfish leech too busy fucking Faunus to care for family_. Of course, I recognize he is being unreasonable.” She trailed a finger along the caulking of the sink. “Am I… am I being selfish?”

Ruby tilted her head. “Wow. That’s… that’s something.”

“I was hoping for more of a second opinion, love.”

“I might not be the best person to talk to, since my dad never pulled this… this manipulative stuff.” Ruby focused on her partner’s face. “But I’m pretty sure you don’t owe him a thing.”

Weiss looked over the kitchen. Even though it was the same kitchen of her childhood, it seemed so much friendlier since Ruby moved in: gone were the lines of Schnee-crest labeled dinnerware, neatly stacked in the cabinets. A mishmash of colorful mugs and plates had replaced them: souvenirs from Jaune and Pyrrha, hand-made trinkets from Ren and Nora, engagement gifts from Uncle Qrow….

“He taught me everything I know about sword-fighting. As the patriarch of the Schnee family, he could have barred me from all the resources–“

“That’s true. But I’m pretty sure that was his duty as a parent to teach you. You know, help your kids up, then let them go it alone when they’re ready?”

 

Weiss was quiet.

“I don’t know what you should do, Weiss. It’s really what you’re comfortable with.”

Weiss let out a small frustrated noise. “That’s exactly it, Ruby! I don’t know what I’m comfortable with! I’m a CEO: I’m hardly on the front lines nowadays. I don’t really _need_ that half of my liver. I don’t want to give him my liver! But I feel like I owe him something for not–“

“For?”

“Not being a terrible parent _all_ the time…” Weiss laughed, and closed her eyes briefly. “He had good days. We used to practice our semblances together. On the best days, he wouldn’t yell at me when I inevitably failed to summon anything. We’d go to the beach. He’d summon Grimm and make them dance amongst the waves…” Her voice grew hard. “And then he’d wonder why I couldn’t do the same. What am I supposed to do, Ruby?”

Ruby bit her lip. “As your wife and partner, I’m obligated to say, _whatever makes you happy_.”

“I don’t know what will make me happy! Even… after all this time, I’m still afraid of my father.” The sink squeaked under Weiss’s fingernails. “I owe him something. I just don’t know what. Or maybe I don’t owe him anything. It’s so confusing…”

“Well… where do you want to be in thirty years? Your dad – one day, he’ll have to die, just like anyone else. Will your life be yours then?”

“I don’t know, Ruby. I’m so used to having a plan… now look at me. Stewing over family drama like a teenager in some Mistralian drama.”

“It could be worse?” Ruby offered. “You could start singing a melodramatic solo about how much your father ruined your life.”

“At this point, I may as well consider that.” Weiss gripped Ruby’s hands. “Tell me, partner. What should I do?”

“I can’t tell you, Weiss. I can only support you.”

Weiss huffed. “Then, some options. Please. I need someone’s opinion – I can’t see straight like this.”

 

Ruby tilted her head. Various ideas involving karma flickered, but she immediately shoved them away. She had a feeling Weiss – despite all that her father had done – would not appreciate it if her father suddenly ‘disappeared.’

“Well, the way I see it, you have three choices. You could, you know, stick him in a senior home and let someone else take care of him. No one would blame you. You could donate your liver and lord it over his head that he’s completely dependent on you. Or you could just kick him out of your life and let fate take over. Again, I don’t think you owe him anything. You don’t owe him for existing.”

The CEO was quiet.

“As a PR move… it would be terrible press."

Ruby shrugged. “Does it matter if you are happy in the end? I might be biased. But I think the public doesn’t own you or owe you a thing.”

Weiss was quiet for a long time. Only the faint pops of bubbles in the sink broke the silence.

At last, Weiss smiled. “I suppose. Thank you, Ruby. I feel a lot better about it.”

“Got a plan of attack, sweetie?”

Weiss tilted her head. “Perhaps. I believe it’s time he learned what makes me so powerful.”

“Weiss and spice, and everything nice!” Ruby chirped, pouncing on her partner.

 

They tumbled to the floor, strings and cords catching each other in a doughy, soapy mess. Ruby threw out her hand, but not fast enough to cushion Weiss’s head and prevent an unnecessary experience with gravity.

“I’m the CEO of the biggest company on Remnant,” Weiss groaned. “Why do I put up with this?”

Ruby poked Weiss’s cheeks, then planted a kiss on her wife’s forehead.

“Because you love me too much for my own good.”

Even splayed against the floor, entangled in her apron strings and Ruby’s bathrobe, Weiss looked every inch the dignified CEO she was. Well, except for the part where she was rolling her eyes. Or the fond smile that kept creeping up her face.

“Dolt. Eat your waffles before they get cold.”

 


End file.
